Comparative and superlative adjectives

• Comparativeadjectives are used to compare two things and show that one thing is bigger, smaller, better, etc than the other.

• Superlative adjectives are used to compare things and say which one is the biggest, strongest, fastest, etc or the most or least.

• Some comparative adjectives are irregular in Spanish. Some superlatives are also irregular, such as the best and the worst.

• The absolute superlative is used when a noun cannot be beaten.

Comparative adjectives are used to compare two things and to say that one thing is bigger, smaller, better, etc than the other.

For example:

Colombia es más grande que España. - Colombia is bigger than Spain.

Paloma es menos trabajadora que María. - Paloma is less hard-working than Maria.

Some examples of comparatives in English are: faster, slower, happier, and shorter.

To form the comparative meaning more than, use más followed by the adjective and que.

To form the comparative meaning less than, use menos followed by the adjective and que.

Remember

Don’t forget that the adjectives still have to agree.

For example:

Mi casa es más pequeña que tu piso. - My house is smaller than your flat.

The adjective pequeña agrees with casa.

Comparative adjectives describe how similar two things are.

For example:

La geografía es tan interesante como la historia. - Geography is as interesting as history.

To say how similar two things are, use tan followed by adjective and como.

Superlatives are used to compare things and say which one is the biggest, strongest, fastest, etc or the most/least.

For example:

Mi casa es la más grande. - My house is the biggest.

Ana es la menos trabajadora. - Ana is the least hardworking.

To form the superlative meaning the most, use el/la/los/las followed by más and the adjective.

To form the superlative meaning the least, use el/la/los/las followed by menos and the adjective.

El/la/los/las is the word for ‘the’ and changes according to whether the noun is masculine, feminine, singular or plural.

The following common adjectives have irregular comparative and superlative forms in Spanish:

• good

• bad

• old

• young

The adjectives good, bad, old and young have the following irregular forms in the comparative.

For example:

Mi coche es mejor que tu bicicleta. - My car is better than your bike.

Mis amigos son mayores que yo. - My friends are older than me.

Remember

Do not use más or menos when using these four adjectives in the comparative.

The adjectives good, bad, old and young have the following irregular forms in the superlative.

For example:

Es el mejor resultado. - It’s the best result.

Es la peor asignatura. - It’s the worst subject.

Note that superlatives menor and mayor are placed after the noun.

For example:

Mi hermano menor es muy creativo.

Use the absolute superlative when something is so good or bad that it can’t be compared to anything.

For example:

Las pizzas son grandísimas. - The pizzas are really, really big.

The absolute superlative is formed by removing the final vowel - if there is one - from the adjective and adding the ending ísimo /ísima/ísimos/ísimas to make sure it agrees with the noun.

For example:

bueno → buenísimo (really, really good)

malo → malísimo (really, really bad)

grande → grandísimo (really, really big)

Practise what you've learned about comparative and superlative adjectives with this quiz.

Now you have learned about comparative and superlative adjectives in Spanish why not explore quantifiers and intensifiers?